Landmark Cohasset antiques store destroyed in fire

Wednesday

Feb 12, 2014 at 9:30 PMFeb 13, 2014 at 10:11 AM

A three-alarm fire tore through the Reflections Antique Emporium in Cohasset on Wednesday, leaving the two-story building a total loss. Owner Karin Gorman, who in December announced plans to sell the building to a furniture store owner, said Wednesday that she “did something really stupid and didn't renew the insurance, so there is no insurance. There's nothing.”

COHASSET — With the sale of her antique store pending, Karin Gorman found comfort in knowing the colorful Victorian on Jerusalem Road would remain a shop that her customers could visit and enjoy.

"It will be different, but the building will be loved, and I have loved this building – every square inch of it," Gorman said in December after announcing plans to sell to a furniture store owner the property she owned for two decades.

But a three-alarm fire tore through Reflections Antique Emporium on Wednesday, leaving the two-story building at 808 Jerusalem Road a total loss.

PHOTOS OF THE FIRE

Gorman had a purchase-and-sale agreement, but the transaction was not finalized and the store was still open for business.

"It's inconceivable. We were planning to close in a month, and here we are. The building is gone essentially. ... And I did something really stupid and didn't renew the insurance. So, there is no insurance. There's nothing," Gorman said Wednesday night. "I haven't been to the building. I couldn't go."

Cohasset Fire Chief Robert Silvia said firefighters responded to the store at about 12:45 p.m. and found heavy fire in the back of the first floor. Silvia said the high volume of stock in the store hampered firefighters in their first attempt to extinguish the flames.

"By the time we got back at it again, (flames) had extended into the second floor and the attic," said Silvia, who believed a malfunction in the furnace sparked the blaze.

The three-alarm fire quickly spread through the historic structure, which housed a general store in the 1800s, and later a public library, town offices and an upholstery shop. Gorman purchased the property in 1994 after it had been on the market for seven years.

Firefighters from Scituate, Norwell, Rockland, Hingham, Hull, Abington, Hanover and other surrounding towns joined Cohasset at the scene and fire station for mutual aid. The roof collapsed in around 2 p.m., and the fire took more than 4 hours to extinguish.

Annie Medrano, a longtime customer and friend of Gorman, looked on as flames raged through the roof. Medrano said a store employee noticed a strange smell when she arrived at the shop in the morning, so she turned off the heat and called the furnace company.

A technician was on his way to look at the oil furnace when the employee heard noises coming from the boiler room, which was on the first floor. She then discovered the fire and called 911.

"It's a loss on so many levels, historically, artistically and culturally," said Medrano of Hull. "I cried when I found out the store was closing, and now this."

According to assessor's records, the building was valued at $226,400, plus $317,600 for the land. Real estate listings report the sale price as $548,000.

As crazy as she said she knows she sounds, Gorman said she and her customers have always felt that there were spirits in the building, and she feels they had something to do with the fire because she was leaving.

"It's very strange that there's been two fires (in its history) and this fire happened during a major change," Gorman said. "I just can't explain it, and I almost feel like I'm supposed to build the building back."